Video: Touring the new Salesforce office in Bellevue that ‘feels like a house’

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Inside the “Mindfulness Zone” at Salesforce’s new Bellevue office.

Salesforce wants its employees to feel at “home” inside the company’s new Bellevue office.

That’s how Elizabeth Pinkham, EVP of Real Estate for Salesforce, described the vibe inside the 70,000 square-foot space where the cloud services giant just moved in this week.

“You may feel like you’re in a house more than an office,” she said. “It may feel like you’re here in our living room, or our dining room, or our kitchen. You’ll see a lot of open spaces and natural light.”

The 3-story office, which houses 250 employees and soon will welcome another 250 people by the end of 2017, was designed with a focus on “Ohana,” a Salesforce cultural value that is all about the value of inclusion and family that extends not just to the employees but also to the company’s community of customers and partners. It fits in with the theme of “home.”

Pinkham said the office was designed with the company’s “Ohana design standard,” which is being implemented across all of Salesforce’s buildings and is meant to “bring all our people together and unify our culture.” The wood flooring, the plants, the green carpeting, the couch colors, and more are part of the new standard, she said.

Another neat aspect is a “mindfulness zone” on each floor where employees can meditate or chill out. Pinkham said Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff was inspired to create these areas after speaking to monks about the value of mindfulness.

“It’s a place for people to recharge, to take a moment and regroup, or have a quiet moment if they need to reflect, and then get back into their really focused work,” Pinkham said.

Taylor Soper is a GeekWire staff reporter who covers a wide variety of tech assignments, including emerging startups in Seattle and Portland, the sharing economy and the intersection of technology and sports. Follow him @taylor_soper and email taylor@geekwire.com.